Cost of using NST services

Fees at a glance

For most sports, there are no fees or charges payable for anti-doping disputes.

For general sport-related disputes, and appeals, where an application fee is payable it must be paid before the Preliminary Conference.

At the Preliminary Conference the CEO will determine any NST service charges, if any, to be paid before the case proceeds to hearing.

What we charge you – the combination of the application fee and service charges – are at rates that will enable us to cover most of the cost of providing the dispute resolution service.

Unlike a court, the NST does not order one party to pay the legal costs of another party.

Anti-Doping Division fees

	Application fee	Application to join an existing arbitration	Service fee
Arbitration	None	$250	None for most sports

General Division fees

	Application fee	Application to join an existing arbitration	Service fee
Arbitration	$500	$250	This will be negotiated with the CEO at the Preliminary Conference, and will depend on the complexity of the case, the estimated duration of the hearing, and the number of NST Members.
Mediation, conciliation or case appraisal	$500	N/A	This will be negotiated with the CEO at the Preliminary Conference, and will depend on the complexity of the case, and the estimated duration of the proceedings.
Case appraisal – additional fee for optional written opinion	$500	N/A

Appeals Division fees

	Application fee	Application to join an existing arbitration	Service fee
Anti-doping appeals	$1500	$250	There will be no service fee for most sports.
Other appeals	$1500	$250	This will be negotiated with the CEO at the Preliminary Conference, and will depend on the complexity of the matter, the length of time the matter will take, the number of NST Members required to hear the case, and whether it is a re-hearing or limited appeal.

Expedited hearing

In cases of some urgency, an expedited hearing can be ordered by the CEO, or requested by the parties.

The CEO will take into account the totality of the circumstances when making a decision, including whether the:

athlete or other parties would be unfairly prejudiced or suffer unjust detriment should the matter take the normal course
issues are time sensitive in themselves (e.g. urgent selection dispute)
NST has the capacity to deliver an urgent hearing.

The CEO will have a discretion to charge an additional fee for expediting a matter in circumstances where 1 and 2 above are not satisfied, and the parties still wish to have an expedited hearing.

Application fees

We charge the application fees (see table above) for our services so that only people with a genuine case will apply to us. Application fees must be paid before we will proceed with a case.

You can apply for our CEO to waive the application fee if it would cause you financial hardship.

The parties involved in each matter can decide how the application fee is to be paid. Put simply, either:

one party pays the entire application fee, or
the parties can split the application fee between them (however they agree).

If they choose, sporting bodies can negotiate an agreement with us to fully fund particular types of dispute resolution for their sport without contribution from individuals – for instance, selection disputes in the lead up to major events. This can include the application fee. Contact your sporting body to see if it has an agreement with us.

Anti-Doping Division

No application fee.
$250 for an application to join an existing arbitration.

General Division

$500 for mediation, conciliation or case appraisal – in most cases this will cover the entire cost of the case (no more to pay).
$500 for arbitration.
$250 for an application to join an existing arbitration.

Appeals Division

$1500 for arbitration.
$250 for an application to join an existing arbitration.

Service charges

The overall cost of any proceeding depends on:

how complex the case is and how many days we expect it to take
how many NST Members are needed or requested (1, 3 or more).

The total cost and how to split it will be negotiated and decided at the Preliminary Conference and reflected in a Preliminary Conference Agreement. Our CEO can make more than one determination of fees if it is necessary as a case progresses.

Standard matters that do not involve expert evidence or a large number of complex issues and witnesses should only need a maximum of 1-day hearing and 1 Tribunal Member.

Anti-Doping Division

There are no service charges for dealing with anti-doping disputes that arise in most sports.

General Division

Arbitration fees

Service charges will be negotiated with the CEO at the Preliminary Conference, and will depend on the complexity of the matter, the length of time the matter will take, and the number of NST Members required to hear the case.

The parties agree at the Preliminary Conference about how these fees will be split between them. The parties must pay these fees before the first day of any hearing.

Mediation, conciliation or case appraisal fees

In most cases, mediation, conciliation or case appraisal takes only a maximum of 1 day and the application fee covers the whole cost of the matter.

Complex mediation, conciliation or case appraisal matters that go for more than 1 day may cost an extra $750 per day.

The participants agree at the Preliminary Conference about how these fees will be split between them. The participants must pay these fees before the first day of proceedings.

Appeals Division

Anti-doping appeals

There are no service charges for dealing with anti-doping appeals that arise in most sports.

Appeals process

Appeals will usually proceed in one of two ways:

Limited appeal – a panel of 3 NST Members reads the papers that were part of the initial case, and reconsider the matter.
Re-hearing – a panel of NST Member(s) hears the matter again at an appeal hearing.

The parties will need to agree on how the appeal will proceed. Sporting bodies may stipulate the method of appeal in their rules (or other documents/policies).

The parties agree at the Preliminary Conference about how these fees will be split between them. The parties must pay these fees before the first day of proceedings.

Costs our fees do not cover

Our fees do not cover costs such as legal representation or obtaining a medical or expert report.

Refunds

If the final NST costs of the case are less than the fees the parties have already paid, we can refund the difference. This could happen if a complex case takes fewer days than we expected.

Our CEO will determine how to split the refund between the parties.

Financial hardship

Our CEO can reduce or waive any of these fees if the CEO is satisfied that paying the fee would cause a party to suffer financial hardship.

An application for financial hardship consideration should be made at the time the application for arbitration or other method of dispute resolution is lodged, or at the Preliminary Conference. You will also need to complete a financial hardship statutory declaration.

NST Legal Assistance Panel

We have established a panel of legal practitioners who are willing to provide free or substantially discounted legal assistance.

If a party has had their fees reduced or waived due to financial hardship, they will automatically receive a copy of the list.

If you do not pay your fees

If you do not pay your fees on time, we may suspend or terminate your case.